1. Field of the Invention
A contact strip lighting system for vehicular truck bodies, semi-trailer or trailer truck bodies and other installations where a plurality of lights are to be connected to a power source. The contact strip lighting system of this invention includes a laminated contact tape which consists of an inner or bottom layer having adhesive material for attachment to a truck body or other mounting surface and being constructed of insulating material to insulate an encapsulated conductor strip from the mounting surface. An intermediate layer is in the form of a single flat metallic conductor strip insulated between the bottom layer and top layer of the laminated strip. An outer or top layer is constructed of insulating material and is used to insulate the conductor strip and provided with a reflective outer surface to enable approaching vehicle operators to more readily see the truck body when the contact strip is attached thereto. One light at the end of the contact strip is connected to a power harness and supplies power to the conductor strip with the other lights being connected electrically to the conductor strip with the top layer of insulation being cut away to enable contact between the lights and conductor strip.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Large vehicles such as trucks, semitrailers, trailers, buses and the like are required to have clearance or running lights mounted at predetermined locations thereon including longitudinally spaced locations along the sides of the vehicle body. Various arrangements have been provided to mount the lights securely to the vehicle body and connect the lights to an electrical circuit for receiving power from the vehicle battery. The following U.S. patents relate to this field of endeavor.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,107,061 PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 3,109,598 PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 3,527,933 PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 4,204,273 PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 4,922,395
The prior art does not disclose a continuous conductive strip and attached light units as disclosed in this application.